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General Garden Tasks

Keep on top of weeding and hoeing by spring cleaning your borders.

Feed roses, borders, hedges, trees, shrubs and spring bulbs. SuperGrow fertiliser replaces lost energy in all garden plants. It’s ideal for feeding trees, hedging, shrubs and hardy garden plants. Just apply a handful of the granules around the base of each plant in Spring and again in early Summer.

Lawns

  • Apply sulphate of iron moss killer now over the entire lawn area. Follow instructions on the pack. Apply the sulphate of iron by spreader OR through a watering can over the entire area evenly. When applying through a watering can add three heaped tablespoons to a two gallon watering can and apply the mix directly to the lawn area. Make sure the mix does not get sprayed or run onto any hard surface areas – tarmac, paving, paths etc. Apply sulphate of iron BEFORE rain is expected.
  • Rake the heavy clumps of dead moss after a couple of days with a lawn rake to remove dead and unwanted moss.
  • After a couple of days apply a dressing of RENOVATOR 3 in 1 lawn treatment to the entire lawn area. This will green the grass without forcing growth due to its unique slow released lawn fertilizer. Renovator will also eliminate broadleaved weeds and feed your lawn for a long period.

Flowers

  1. Wait for six weeks after flowers of spring bulbs are over before cutting the foliage down.
  2. Continue to plant perennials and finish dividing and replanting summer flowering perennials.
  3. Plant new alpines and top up scree bed with gravel and grit.

Trees, Shrubs and Climbers

  1. Plant or move evergreen trees and shrubs.
  2. Feed acid-loving plants.
  3. Prune winter jasmine and hydrangea. Tie in shoots of climbing and rambling roses, wall-trained shrubs and newly planted climbers.
  4. Tidy up hedges and clip if necessary.
  5. Plant pot-grown evergreens.

Patios and Containers

  1. Plant spring bedding and summer bulbs in pots.
  2. Plant compact trees, shrubs and evergreen in pots.
  3. Plant alpine troughs.

Vegetables and Herbs

  1. Sow broad beans, summer cabbage, Brussels sprouts, early peas, calabrese, summer/autumn cauliflower, leeks, beetroot, radish, spring onions, lettuce, rocket, turnips, kohl rabi, spinach, parsnips, swiss chard, chicory, endive, carrots and onions.
  2. Plant first early, second early and maincrop potatoes. Earth up shoots of early potatoes to protect them from frost.
  3. Plant asparagus crowns and globe artichokes.
  4. Look after your veg – water and hoe regularly, thin out and transplant seedlings, and give support to peas and beans sown earlier.
  5. Sow hardy herbs (parsley, coriander, fennel, dill and marjoram).

A great selection of vegetable plants are now in stock in Horkans.

Fruit

  1. Plant strawberries.
  2. Feed blackcurrants and blackberries.
  3. Prune stone fruits if necessary.

Seed Sowing

  1. Select F1 varieties in both flower and vegetable seed ranges. F1 will rewared you with excellent performance with larger blooms and colour.
  2. Choose Seed and Potting Compost.
  3. Fill your clean plastic seed tray with a mixture of seed and potting compost.
  4. Water the compost with a diluted spray of Copper Fungicide – this prevents ‘damping off diseases’ in young seedlings. Sow the seeds thinly across the compost.
  5. Cover the newly sown seeds with a light dressing of perlite or vermiculite. This helps to keep the seeds moist whilst allowing light to filter through.
  6. Cover the seed trays with some cling film or light plastic and place in a warm bright location – a window sill above a radiator is ideal.
  7. Seed germination will vary with seed varieties but check every second day for signs of new growth – remove the cling film at this stage.
  8. Once the new seedlings are showing signs of growth place the tray into a cool frost free location and grow on.
  9. Transplant the young seedlings into trays or pots as soon as they are large enough to handle.

By the time you have all the above tasks completed, it will be time for our May tasks! Enjoy being outdoors and in touch with nature in the meantime.

Josette (Horkan’s Lifestyle and Garden Centre, Lydacan)
(Tel: 091 739 958)